<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Time Out by benjaminrussell</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881351">Time Out</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell'>benjaminrussell</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Time Out [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fix-It, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 14:57:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Legends change the timeline, writing Zari from existence. But then she finds herself in a strange coffee shop with a man she last saw returning to Earth-X.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mick Rory/Leonard Snart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Time Out [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736545</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Time Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set after "Romeo v Juliet: Dawn of Justness" but ignores the events of “Zari, Not Zari.”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zari closed her eyes as she felt the effects of changing history wash over her. She would miss travelling with the Legends, or well she would have done if she wasn’t about to stop existing, but regardless, preventing the world she grew up in come to pass was worth way more than that.</p><p>A beat.</p><p>Two.</p><p>Three.</p><p>She could still think. She could still feel her body. Had it not actually worked?</p><p>Zari opened her eyes again and took in her surroundings. She was no longer in Heyworld that was for sure, but she was still <em>somewhere </em>which was more than she’d been expecting. It appeared to be an empty coffee shop? Slowly turning on the spot, she saw a freshly stocked baked goods counter, a couple of dirty mugs left by the till, and a man sat in one corner, staring straight at her. He looked to be in maybe his 40s, had short salt and pepper hair, and was wearing a dark blue parka that caused a shock of recognition. He looked just like Leo Snart, but surely it couldn’t be him. Also there was something that wasn’t quite right.</p><p>“Hello?” She ventured tentatively, slowly starting towards him, “Leo?”</p><p>“Snart, or Len if you have to,” he corrected, still watching her intently. “Have we met?”</p><p>“I’m Zari. I’ve met another version of you, I think.”</p><p>“Welcome to Time Out, Zari,” he said drily, gesturing at the seat opposite him. “So time travel or alternate universe?”</p><p>“Both? I’m one of the Legends, but the ‘you’ I knew was from an alternate universe,” She said with a wry grin, sitting down in the proffered seat. Then without really giving him time to respond to her statement, she asked, “Where are we? Am I dead?”</p><p>“You’re not dead. And as far as I can tell, we’re in the Speed Force,” Snart replied, “As to why it looks like Jitters, I can only guess it’s because it’s the Flash’s favourite coffee shop and the Flash is the Speed Force’s favourite speedster.”</p><p>He leant forward slightly, and casually asked, “Mick still on the Waverider?” Ok, so likely the Snart from her universe, but potentially from before his death?</p><p>Zari guessed his question, his concern, was actually important to him despite his tone, so she answered with a bit more detail than she might have otherwise, “Yeah, he’s doing okay. Did you know he’s a published author?” Also she still wasn’t convinced their relationship had been just one of  criminal partners, despite what the other Legends said. She’d seen the ring that Mick wore on a chain around his neck after all.</p><p>Snart blinked, then his expression morphed into what Zari thought was a genuine smile, and he commented, “Good for him.”</p><p>“So what did you do to get put in the naughty corner?” Snart asked after a moment, the carefree attitude returning. Zari couldn’t help but snigger at that, because yeah, that kinda was one way of looking at it, wasn’t it? They’d both messed with time in a big way and now were here, in apparently the Speed Force.</p><p>“We accidentally revealed a dragon to the world, and then rolled with it, showing the world that not all magical creatures are evil, which prevented the facist ARGUS state that I grew up in ever happening,” Zari summarised, smiling inwardly at the fact that she appeared to have surprised even another Legend with how ridiculous the story sounded.</p><p>“And here I thought blowing up a machine that existed outside of time so people could have free will and an immortal psychopath didn’t get to rule the world sounded unbelievable,” Snart drawled. Make that after his ‘death’ then. Had he been here all that time?</p><p>“That was after we collected a bunch of magical totems and used them to create a giant Beebo toy to defeat a demon,” Zari shot back, grinning widely. Maybe being stuck wouldn’t be so bad if she was stuck with someone who shared her sense of humour. Speaking of…</p><p>“Are we stuck here? I mean, I’m guessing so seeing as you’re still here.” Snart nodded and made a face.</p><p>“Nothing I’ve tried so far has worked. I’ve got some ideas to try that require two people though,” he said, giving her a querying look.</p><p>Zari nodded immediately and told him, “I’m a hacker from 2042 and have air powers, if that helps.” One of the few things she already knew about the Snart from her universe was that he was a master planner, and if she was going to help in a jailbreak then he needed to know what she could do. She did glance down at her wrist to make sure the totem-now-bracelet was still there however.</p><p>“Good to know,” He said, in a tone that implied to Zari that he was already thinking up ways to make use of her abilities.</p><p>***</p><p>In the end, none of it mattered as they ended up being spat out with no involvement from themselves.</p><p>They were on their first coffee of the ‘day’ (time didn’t really flow in the little coffee shop sized bubble they were stuck in), looking over their latest plan for escape when everything started shaking as if there was an earthquake. Knowing that it couldn’t be an actual earthquake, they could only guess that there was something wrong with the Speed Force but given that they were still stuck in fake-Jitters there wasn’t anything they could do about it.</p><p>“Hold on!” Zari shouted over the noise to Len, holding out her hand. He grabbed it just in time for her to summon a barrier of wind around them and mostly protect them from the building collapsing on top of them. Then the next thing they knew, they were stumbling out into a version of Jitters that hadn’t just been hit by a quake and was actually populated with other people.</p><p>“Are we back?” Zari asked hopefully, looking around at the patrons who other than the odd glance, were ignoring the two people who’d just appeared in their midst. It was Central City after all, so as long as the new arrivals weren’t trying to rob, kidnap, or kill anyone it wasn’t a big deal. Len snagged a newspaper off an empty table and showed her front page – it was 2020 and about ten months ship time since she’d changed her past. Given that all the papers in the Speed Force version of Jitters were stuck on one particular day in 2016, it definitely seemed like a good sign.</p><p>“Let’s go to Star Labs,” Len said in a low voice as he dropped the paper back on the table, “If anyone knows what’s going on with the Speed Force, it’ll be them.” Zari nodded in agreement and headed for the front door, holding her breath as she pushed it open, and unable to help the cry of success she gave as she was able to actually step outside for the first time. Len wasn’t as vocal, but from a quick glance, Zari could tell he was also pleased to have left Jitters.</p><p>With money she assumed Len had swiped from someone on the street, they caught a bus across town, and then walked the rest of the way to Star Labs.</p><p>“Are they likely to welcome you or attack on sight?” Zari asked as they headed up to the front door.</p><p>“50-50 depending whether they think it’s me or someone pretending to be me,” Len replied after a moment’s consideration. Zari nodded in acknowledgment and then set to opening the door. Even without her tools it was ridiculously easy to hack the lock, so it was a matter of seconds before they were walking inside and heading to the main room.</p><p>“Hello?” She called out. It was only as she entered the room to a rifle pointed at her face that she realised that, oh yeah, of course they wouldn’t know who she was given the timeline change.</p><p>“Snart?” Iris’ confusion was evident when Len appeared in the doorway by Zari, although Zari noted that the rifle stayed trained on them. Cisco however lowered his hands as soon as he recognised the older man.</p><p>“Surprise, I’m not on ice?” Len offered with a lazy grin, causing Iris to roll her eyes and Cisco to snicker at the dreadful pun. Apparently that convinced Iris it was really him though, as she set down the rifle and put her hands on her hips instead.</p><p>“What happened? And who’s your friend?” Cisco asked, coming out from behind his desk.</p><p>“We’ve been stuck in the Speed Force since messing with time,” Len summarised, already lounging against the control panel now they weren’t being threatened.</p><p>“I’m Zari. I’m- well, I was one of the Legends. We met, before the timeline changed.”</p><p>Cisco opened his mouth, paused as if considering what he was about to say, and then said, “You know what, honestly that’s not even the craziest thing I’ve heard this week.”</p><p>Turning to Zari, he held out his hand. “Do you mind?” Putting her hand in his, Zari waited patiently as presumably he used his powers to get an impression of her past or something. She didn’t really understand how his powers worked, but between the time travel and being trapped in the Speed Force, there must be something there for him to pick up on. His expression certainly agreed.</p><p>“Huh. Being stuck in the Speed Force must have prevented you from being affected by the multiverse merging.” They must have missed another crossover, but Zari wasn’t going to ask. It would undoubtedly involve a long, convoluted explanation that boiled down to ‘big superhero fight to save the world’, so it could wait.</p><p>“Are you after the Flash or the Legends?” Iris asked, still eyeing Len a little warily.</p><p>“We were hoping you could call the Legends here, although you should probably get the Flash to check there’s no-one else stuck in the Speed Force,” Len replied, still acting like he didn’t care. Iris and Cisco shared a look at that, but again, Zari wasn’t going to ask. If Team Flash needed assistance they could ask for it, otherwise she was firmly keeping out of whatever it was that was going on. She had enough crazy stuff of her own to deal with right now.</p><p>Iris reached into a drawer in the console and pulled out a small communicator that Zari recognised as being from the Waverider. “Hey Gideon, please can you let the the Legends know we’ve got two of theirs here requesting pickup?”</p><p>Zari looked back at the other two, just in time to see Cisco approaching Len and looking like he might get his head bitten off.</p><p>“Just this once, <em>Vibe</em>,” Len drawled, holding his hand out as if Cisco was going to kiss it. “And only to convince my crew I’m really me.” Zari giggled, tried to hide it behind her hand, and very much failed to do so, but thankfully Cisco was too focused on Len and so only Iris shot her a questioning look.</p><p>In an undertone Zari explained, still fighting giggles, “The urge to make either a meme joke or a sex joke about his codename…” It took a second, but Zari saw the moment when understanding dawned on Iris’ face, and then they were both laughing, fuelling each other’s amusement as Cisco let go of Len’s hand. Cisco just looked confused, but Zari suspected than Len might have an inkling of where her mind had gone if the faint smirk was anything to go by.</p><p>“He really is Captain Cold from Earth-1.” Cisco had clearly decided not to ask what they were laughing about and instead reported on his findings.</p><p>“Told you so.” Len folded his arms and returned to his lounging, just as the sound of faint footsteps entered their awareness. A few moments later, Sara walked into the room, followed by the rest of the Legends and- could it be?</p><p>“Behrad!” Zari launched herself at her brother and hugged him as tightly as possible in an attempt to make up for all the time since she’d seen him last.</p><p>“Zari?” Behrad sounded confused as he looked when Zari drew back enough to see his expression. “You were just behind-”</p><p>“I am,” said a new voice. Zari looked over Behrad’s shoulder and immediately stumbled back a little in shock. It was like looking in a mirror, except other her looked like a fashionista and like she’d never fought in her life. She supposed it made sense – her entire life had been shaped by how she’d grown up, so without the regime she could be, and apparently was, a very different person.</p><p>“I think we should all take a seat and Cisco can explain,” Iris suggested diplomatically, drawing everyone’s attention. Everyone’s but Mick and Len’s, Zari noted belatedly. The two men were stood off to one side, Len saying something inaudible and Mick just staring in shock.</p><p>***</p><p>Len stayed lounging against the console as they heard the Legends approach, but it was rather more acting casual rather than actually being relaxed, in anticipation of seeing his partner again. Zari threw herself at a man Len assumed was her brother, and the ensuing confusion from there being two of her drew the attention of most of the team, although several of them also noticed Len.</p><p>“Which one are you?” Sara asked, in that deceptively friendly tone that Len knew meant violence if his answer wasn’t one she liked. The version of him from Earth-X hadn’t sounded <em>that </em>bad from what Zari had said, certainly not enough to provoke that kind of reaction from Sara, so clearly something else had happened with another version of him.</p><p>Honestly and unsurprisingly though, she wasn’t the focus of his attention so he just ignored her. Mick had wandered in at the back of the group, looking like he didn’t care what was happening. Not until he spotted Len. At that point, his expression tightened and he immediately turned on his heel. It was only Len darting forward to grab him by the arm that stopped him leaving, and perhaps the shock of Len touching him in public that prevented him from pulling away and going regardless.</p><p>“Mick…” Len paused and frowned at the warring emotions on his partner’s face. Anger – sure, Len would be mad if Mick had ditched him. Grief – again sure, even if it made his heart clench in a horrible way because he’d put Mick through that. Resignation though, he didn’t get. What the fuck had happened while he’d been gone?</p><p>“I swear to you, it’s really me,” He said in a low voice that wouldn’t carry, even though everyone else’s attention had just been drawn by Iris.</p><p>“I can tell you the last film we watched together, or rather didn’t watch.” Len smirked a little at the memory - they’d put on an old heist film to laugh at, but it’d barely got past the title sequence before they started making out instead of watching. Mick was still just staring wordlessly at him though, so he continued.</p><p>“Ocean’s Eleven, by the way. I can tell you that I’ve still never eaten Brussels sprouts.” A fact that had been a long running argument between them, whenever they had enough downtime for Mick to spend more time cooking. He racked his brain for something else he could use to persuade Mick that it was him and not some alternate version (too nice or not), and then couldn’t help but grin as the perfect idea came to him.</p><p>“Don’t you remember what I said in my wedding vows?” That finally provoked a response.</p><p>“Of course not! They were in fucking Hebrew!” Mick shot back, a small tendril of hope working its way into his expression. Len belatedly realised he was still gripping Mick’s arm, so he let his hand drop but didn’t step away.</p><p>“When the Oculus exploded, it threw me out into the time stream where I would have disintegrated if the Speed Force hadn’t caught me. I was stuck there alone until Zari was snagged from the timeline too, and even then we couldn’t escape, not until it spat us out an hour or so ago.”</p><p>“What did Little Miss Princess do to piss off time?” Mick asked, jumping on the less emotional topic. Neither of them liked talking about their feelings (even when sometimes they really should have), especially in a room full of people, but Len planned to make his apology clear through actions instead of words later in private, so he was equally happy to talk about Zari now.</p><p>“That Zari’s a hacker and a wanted criminal in her time.” Len may not know anything about the other version of Zari but from just a glance at her, Mick’s nickname seemed to fit. He definitely got a very different impression of her compared to the version he’d spent the past however long with.</p><p>“She grew up in an ARGUS police state where meta humans and religion were banned, and her brother-” He nodded his head in the direction of Behrad. “-was killed. She joined up with the team, and you all prevented the regime from ever happening by setting up a theme park filled with magical creatures.” Len couldn’t help raising his eyebrow at that because even from the stuff he’d seen with the Legends, that still sounded ridiculous.</p><p>Mick was nodding though. “Heyworld. Created by Pretty’s dad. Wait, how did that stop ARGUS from taking over?”</p><p>“Apparently revealing magic to the world changed public sentiment and made the politicians think twice about outlawing metas.” The butterfly effect, Len supposed.</p><p>“Huh. So we wrote her out of existence, but the Speed Force took her instead? And now we’ve got a completely different person who didn’t grow up on the right side of the law.” Mick’s smirk made it clear what he meant by ‘right side’.</p><p>“Z could make a good Rogue,” Len commented with an answering smirk. “And she’s less pissy than Mardon.”</p><p>“Who’d win in a fight, d’you reckon?” Mick was clearly imagining Z going up against Weather Wizard, air totem vs weather powers.</p><p>“Certainly not anyone else nearby.” It definitely wouldn’t be a fight you’d want to have ringside seats for.</p><p>Mick’s answering laugh drew the attention of the other Legends, now that Cisco had apparently finished recapping the events for them. Most of them were watching Len and Mick curiously, because as Len realised now he wasn’t completely focused on his partner, Sara was the only other original crew member there. Sara who now approached the two of them, giving Len a warm smile.</p><p>“Snart. Good to see you again.” The smile then morphed into a cheeky grin. “Welcome to the Came Back From the Dead club.”</p><p>“I don’t think I technically died,” Len replied, “But speaking of the club, what happened to the rest of the crew?”</p><p>“We have had a bit of roster change, haven’t we?” Sara caught Mick’s eye before the two of them caught him up.</p><p>“Kendra and Carter left after we defeated Savage.”</p><p>“The Professor was killed by Nazi scum from a different Earth.”</p><p>“Jax went home and now is married with a kid, and Rip sacrificed himself to defeat a demon.”</p><p>“And Haircut just got married to Damien Dahrk’s daughter. Who’s a fairy godmother.”</p><p>“That doesn’t even include the people who’ve come and gone in the meantime!” Sara barked out a laugh at that, tempered a little by the mention of their dead (actually dead) teammates but bolstered by Len’s return.</p><p>“That’s Pretty.” Mick gestured at the youngish white guy as the rest of the team closed in.</p><p>“Nate Heywood,” Sara corrected, before taking over the introductions. Len liked Mick’s habit of giving everyone nicknames, but he had to admit, knowing their actual names would probably be helpful.</p><p>“This is Charlie, John Constantine, Behrad and Zari Tarazi, and finally my girlfriend, Ava Sharpe.” Sara’s proud smile at the latter told Len all he needed to know about how serious that relationship was. Good for her.</p><p>“Team, this is Leonard Snart.”</p><p>“My partner,” Mick stated gruffly.</p><p>***</p><p>Apparently changing the timeline had also changed her family’s surname. Zari wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that, but it probably wasn’t a big deal. Certainly not compared to her family all being alive, and there being another version of herself. But then Sara introduced Len to the team and Mick made it clear Len was his partner, and Zari couldn’t help but cheer a little at the emotional (for them) reunion. Everyone else was giving her weird looks though, as if they had no idea what she was happy about. Seriously?</p><p>“They’re finally reunited?” She offered, still getting nothing but blank or confused expressions, before glancing at Len and asking, “Does no-one know, really?” Sure no-one had ever mentioned Len and Mick being romantically involved while she’d been on the Waverider, but how did no-one else even have a suspicion that might have been the case? Sara gave them both a considering look, finally putting two and two together it seemed.</p><p>“Know what?” Nate asked, adorably clueless as usual about that sort of thing. Ok, maybe Zari was biased about that but oh well.</p><p>Len and Mick shared a glance that seemed to contain an entire conversation, before Len in his typically dramatic fashion announced, “That we’re married.”</p><p>Cisco looked to be having an epiphany, while Iris seemed like she was imagining tomorrow’s edition of the Citizen as a gossip magazine. The other Legends were reacting with varying amounts of surprise and happiness – from Constantine’s quiet approval to Nate still looking confused (now it was less adorable and heteronormative much?) to Ava seeming oddly concerned.</p><p>“Congrats,” Sara told Len and Mick with a wry grin, perhaps reevaluating many of their interactions from over the past several years.</p><p>***</p><p>A couple of months later, Zari was beginning to settle into her new home in Central City, 2020. She and Len had both tried going back to the Legends, but it turned out the team wasn’t the right place for either of them anymore. For Zari, it was too weird being around her other self, and even if she got to see her brother every day, honestly he wasn’t the same person as the man she remembered either. She was mostly glad about that, seeing as Behrad (her Behrad) had been shaped by the regime as much as she had, and the current version of him hadn’t had to live through that trauma, but it still didn’t stop her missing the brother she grew up with. Her relationship with Nate had been stilted too, their time apart and Nate’s lack of memories of their history more or less putting a stop to the whole thing. She still cared for him, and of course the rest of the team, but a fresh start was what she needed right now.</p><p>Len on the other hand had decided that being on the Waverider made it too likely that he’d end up dying for the cause (like Professor Stein, like Rip) once more, and he point blank refused to put Mick through that again. Especially when it became apparent how badly the last few years on the ship had affected Mick’s mental health. So they’d both decided to return home, extending an invitation for Zari to join them. Given that she no longer had a home to return to, and wouldn’t have wanted to anyway, she took them up on the offer, swayed by the friendship she’d developed with Len during their time in the Speed Force and by the fact that she knew a few people already in the time period – Ray and Nora, Mona, Team Flash, and to a lesser extent, Team Arrow. Len had also promised to introduce her to his sister, who from his and Mick’s stories sounded like a blast.</p><p>Another few months after that, Zari met up with Len, Mick, and Lisa for their regular movie night and was greeted with a proposition. Len was setting up a new crew called the Rogues and they wanted her to be part of it. The Rogues would be a loose network of criminals based in Central City, who’d stick firmly to a no killing rule, and their targets would be millionaires and corporations – the sort of people who wouldn’t miss whatever had been taken from them. They would also be firmly anti-Families, and after some pushing by Zari to get Len to admit it, would be willing to help out during any End of the World type events. Honestly it sounded to Zari almost like the Legends, just with a little bit more stealing and potentially less risk of death. So, pending an ‘official’ super villain/anti hero name from Cisco, she was now a Rogue and had a whole bunch of new friends. And if the back and forth flirting with Lisa was anything to go by, she might soon have a girlfriend too.</p><p>Central City was great!</p><p>***</p><p>ROGUES GET AWAY SCOT FREE DUE TO HURRICANE HACKER</p><p>The newest member of Captain Cold’s Rogues helped her fellow supervillains get away from their latest heist with a combination of air powers and hacking skills.</p><p>
  <em>Iris West-Allen</em>
</p><p>“Isn’t that Zari?” Caitlin asked, peering over Cisco’s shoulder at the Central City Citizen article on his computer.</p><p>“Yep.” Cisco popped the p, swivelling in his chair to look up at her before adding, “I came up with the name.” Caitlin looked like she was going to say something, but then shook her head and laughed.</p><p>“If she can keep them from doing anything too bad, then maybe it’s for the best.”</p><p>“You say that like Captain Cold and Heatwave aren’t already heroes. Even if they won’t admit it.”</p><p>***</p><p>In fact, the next time a supervillain attacked while the Flash was out of town, Team Flash didn’t even have to ask for the Rogues to step up and protect the city.</p><p>Central City’s newest protectors might be criminals, but they were definitely still heroes.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>